Bing Gets Smarter on Cars, Sports; Ties in with Foursquare

Today, Microsoft's "decision engine," Bing, will be updated with more detailed information on car models, sports comparisons, and a slight redesign. What does this mean? Specific data and answers to questions, Microsoft says.

Today, Microsoft's "decision engine," Bing, will be updated with more detailed information on car models, sports comparisons, and a slight redesign. What does this mean? Specific data and answers to questions, Microsoft says.

Some of the changes will roll out slowly, at first appearing to only 5 percent of users, but the car "DTP"or domain task page will be served to all users. It's all part of Bing's strategy of not simply delivering text link results for search, but deep information on the searched-for term.

For example, searching on Hyndai Elantra will result in a page showing the sticker and invoice prices, fuel economy, trims, and competitors. Tab options above the results will offer images, video, and all web results as options in addition to the page showing these specs. Other types of results, such as performers will have as their top result a "card" showing an image, the official site, and appearance dates.

"We have a vision for Bing to serve as a vital assistant to your online decision-making," Microsoft's user experience team manager, Jeff Henshaw, said of the changes. "In these latest designs, you'll see a lighter, cleaner presentation of results that highlight key actions that will efficiently guide you toward your goal. Every day, Bing gets more intelligent about tasks that are important to people like you and me, so we continue to streamline and polish the Bing experience in ways that let you tap into that intelligence."

The user interface will also subtly change: Search result categories will move from the left panel to tabs along the top. Microsoft's Stefan Weitz explained to PCMag.com that people weren't making a lot of use of the category bars, but instead made heavy use of their search history and search suggestions, which will remain in the left panel.
"It offers more explicit context in a mini-aggregated experience," Weitz said. "Up to now, Web search has been like shouting out a word in a crowded bar and hearing what people there respond with," meaning that people have understood what search engines haven't, he said.

Sports fans aren't being left out either. Bing updates will allow them to compare team and player statssomething some reviewers have decried as missing from Microsoft's search while being available in Google.

Foursquare app
Also new in Bing is a Foursquare map application that will allow Bing Maps customers to see check-ins on the location service, plus badges and mayors in Bing Maps. Bing's map applications already include "What's Nearby," live traffic video, Photosynth 3D photo montages, and have recently been augmented with one for the Worldwide Telescope.

The Foursquare integration fits in with another theme of Binglocalizing search results. For example, when you search on "Chicago," you'll see not only images, a map, and current weather conditions, but flight prices there from your own city. And in the entertainer page results mentioned above, the performances listed will be those within your area. Weitz envisioned a future web of semantic objects in which you could request a taxi or make a restaurant reservation nearby based on recommendations from other users you trust. And steps towards this have already been taken by services like Bookingbug, OpenTable, and True Knowledge.

Local services make most sense with mobile devices, and Bing today also announced improved results in that arena. "For all mobile customers, we will release Autosuggest improvements, including answers for things like stock quotes," a Microsoft representative said.

The car result pages and mobile improvements go live for all users today, while the new user interface and sports comparison are rolling out to 5 percent of users and everyone over the next few weeks. But this isn't the end of Bing's evolution. According to our contacts at Microsoft, more new capabilities and refinements are coming later this spring and summer.

Michael Muchmore is PC Magazine’s lead analyst for software and Web applications. A native New Yorker, he has at various times headed up PC Magazine’s coverage of Web development, enterprise software, and display technologies. Michael cowrote one of the first overviews of Web Services (pretty much the progenitor of Web 2.0) for a general audience. Before that he worked on PC Magazine’s Solutions section, which in those days covered programming techniques as well as tips on using popular office software. Most recently he covered Web...
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